


Stupid things

by Alex_E



Category: Luke Cage (TV)
Genre: Fix-It of Sorts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-07
Updated: 2018-07-07
Packaged: 2019-06-06 21:43:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15204089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alex_E/pseuds/Alex_E
Summary: Shades follows Che ep 2x07 fix it.





	Stupid things

There are rules to this game. He learned them at a young age. Romeo drilled them into him when he joined the Rivals. He was young and foolish and he needed guidance. Romeo was like the father he never had. He idolized him.So he learned and studied the rules and lived by them. The rules are what kept him on top off the game and most importantly alive today.

Now he is here, sitting in his Mercedes SL parking it on an abandoned street away from all the traffic cameras.  
He followed Che. He knew Che was the snitch he knew it, he felt it. He knew there was something Che wasn't telling him. Che could never hide from him. Just as he could never hide from Che and oh that unnerves him so.

They talked over lunch earlier that afternoon. Something was up, Sugar was acting weird. He would have to look into that sooner rather than later. “Maybe he is in love,’ Che had stated as a matter of fact. Shades snorted at that. “As if being in love justifies strange behavior,” Shades replied perhaps more bitterly than intended. “People in love do stupid things,”Che argued back. They left it there. 

The moment Mariah asked about Tone he knew for sure. They had snitch in their organisation. He was so tired of this. He had half a billion in the Cayman Islands stashed away now. He didn't need this anymore.

He asked Mariah to hand over the club to him, he gave her an ultimatum, nearly begged her to get out.  
She didn’t budge. She does love him, she's just gotten caught up in something that's beyond her control, he tries to resonate to himself. She'll never get out of the situation with Bushmaster on her own, and more than likely, she doesn't want to be saved. She is like a trainwreck waiting to happen. Ready to derail everything and everyone around her. He will be a casualty when the morning comes.

He walks a half a block to where he saw Che’s car going in. He silently stalks closer.  
He is carefully hiding behind an old rusty container.  
Shades could be unseen when he wanted to be.  
He is tired of the dark however he wants to step out into the light for once.

He hears voices. One he recognises in an instant. He gets closer and overhears pieces of a heated conversation. 

“Mariah killed Cornell that should be enough.” 

He makes out the skyline of Manhattan at night. An incredible unique sight many artist try to immortalize in art. And yet it's all background noise compared to the silhouette of Che.

He sees Che and someone who looks vaguely familiar. He looks like a cop. No he is sure he's seen that man before. Last year at the precinct. He is a most definitely a cop. 

After realizing this a storm of contrasting feelings rose in his mind. He wanted to grab Che, shake him, hit him, ask him why the fuck he hadn't answered his messages, what the hell he was thinking, why he was about to abandon him, beg him to hold him tight and not leave him ever again.

He hears Che saying ‘I want out’ loud and clear.  
He takes this as his que and he steps forward out of the shadows into the cold harsh yellow streetlights.

He hears the click of a gun and a sharp inhale of breath. Che is pointing a gun at the cop.

“Hold up just hold up,” the cop says and raises his hands up in surrender.

Che is rattling off to him “ I got him bro.’ He is desperately looking at Shades for confirmation, approval and another unnamed emotion he knows so well.

Every word spoken by Che is a lie though. Shades remains quiet. 

He is staring at Che and looks him in the eyes.  
Mariah's eyes are a bright hazel brown and there always seemed a storm raging behind it, where Che's were nearly black pools clear and calm. But they have the same fire. Mariah’s are the bright dark of flames, where Che's were dark like the night’s sky. Because still everything comes back to Che.

“You don't have to do this,” the cop talks again. 

He is onto something he doesn't have to do this. Lost in thought for a moment he is unaware of it when Ridenhour addresses him directly ‘Hernan right,’ he speaks nervously. “I can cut you both a deal, he told me what you saw, Cottonmouth.”

What he saw was insanity he thinks and he went along with it. He briefly wonders what that says about him. Ridenhour is still talking still trying to persuade him. “ You'll testify against Mariah I'll make sure you get the same deal. Immunity and time served.”

It is a good deal. He thinks really good. Almost too good to be true. The cops are desperate to get Mariah. And desperate people in desperate situations do desperate things. It was one of the rules. He can work with that.

Shades looks back at an increasingly nervous Che. Che tightens his grip on the gun. Shades knows he is ready to fire at any given moment. He should let him pull the trigger, he really should. Ridenhour is a cop but he is innocent. He reaches for his sunglasses and takes them off he is ‘Shades’ no longer. Just Hernan now. 

And Hernan shakes his head at Che. Che gets it and lowers his gun. They never needed words.  
Che always gets him and that's what matters. Che becomes Darius as his eyes light up.

Darius wants out, he heard him say it. Darius just smiles at him he looks so radiant like the sun, he is sure that he can almost feel the warmth of the rays on his skin.

He turns his attention back to a confused Ridenhour. Who was watching the two men in silence unaware of what's going on. 

He grabs his gun, Ridenhour raises his hands up in defense again. He throws the gun on the ground before him. He was well aware of what this indication would do. It is not in the rules. What he is doing is stupid. He was struck silent for a moment. He doesn't care, he is in love. He said it before he even knew it. 

‘I want out.’


End file.
